England , Spain win as Lbra score in return

PARIS

 England and reigning champions Spain both secured home victories in Euro 2016 qualifying on Saturday, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted in his return for Sweden in a 1-1 draw at Montenegro.

A turgid Group ‘E’ encounter between England and Slovenia at Wembley came to life in the second half as Roy Hodgson’s side fought back to win 3-1 and make it four wins from four games to remain firmly on track for a place at the finals in France.

Beside England’s win, Group ‘E’ also saw San Marino end their streak of 61 losses by drawing 0-0 against Estonia as some of the continent’s minnows enjoyed outstanding results.

Spain eased to a 3-0 win at home over Belarus, but Slovakia remained top of Group ‘C’ with a 2-0 win at Macedonia.

Austria strengthened their hold on Group ‘G’ after beating Russia 1-0, with Sweden four points back. Ibrahimovic, who missed two qualifiers in a seven-week injury layoff, scored in the ninth and hit the post later before Montenegro’s Stefan Jovetic leveled from the penalty spot in the 80th.

Slovenia took the lead just before the hour mark when Jordan Henderson headed into his own net, but England were back on level terms moments later thanks to Wayne Rooney, who won and then converted a penalty to mark the occasion of his 100th international appearance with his 44th goal for his country.

Danny Welbeck of Arsenal then netted a brace, giving him five in the campaign, to seal the victory.

“It was a good day in the end. We had to show character and that will be good for us in the team. Since the World Cup, we haven’t faced that [going behind],” said Rooney, as England now turn their thoughts to Tuesday’s friendly with Scotland in Glasgow.

San Marino, the world’s lowest-ranked team, got their first ever point in European Championship qualifying after holding out against Estonia at home.

After seeing his side avoid defeat in a competitive match for the first time since 2001, San Marino coach Pierangelo Manzaroli said: “This result is a reward for the players and it will be an incentive to gain other good results sooner than in 12 years’ time.”

England surged six points clear of Slovenia, Switzerland and Lithuania. Estonia have four points while San Marino stayed last.

The Swiss beat visiting Lithuania 4-0 thanks to four second-half goals, with Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice.

Spain outclassed Belarus from the start in the southern city of Huelva, as midfielder Francisco “Isco” Alarcon made the most of his fifth appearance for Spain in place of the injured Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

Isco stood out in Spain’s electric first 20 minutes, and curled in a right-footed strike in the 18th after Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion had intercepted the ball.

Sergio Busquets’ deflected shot from long range found the net less than a minute later, and Pedro Rodriguez made it 3-0 in the 55th after Juanfran Torres broke down the right side of Belarus’ defence.

“We played well, we dominated the match and scored twice in the first half which gave us a certain peace of mind,” said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.

Slovakia earned their fourth win in as many games from first-half goals by Juraj Kucka and Adam Nemec in Skopje.

Ukraine stayed level with Spain on nine points after Andriy Yarmolenko scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at Luxembourg.

Macedonia were left with three points and Belarus and Luxembourg remained with one point each.

Austria’s win over Russia in Vienna kept them unbeaten in nine straight matches since October 2013 as they seek to qualify for the European Championship for the first time.

1860 Munich’s Pakistan-born striker Rubin Okotie, who also scored in Austria’s 1-0 win over Montenegro last month, hit from a counterattack in the 73rd minute, moments after officials had deemed that another effort by the same player had not crossed the line.

The defeat left Russia five points adrift, along with Montenegro, and with just one win from their last seven competitive matches.

Ibrahimovic put Sweden ahead at Montenegro after scoring from short range for his 51st goal in 101 matches for the Scandinavians. Jovetic grabbed the draw after he was brought down by Erkan Zengin.

In the other group game, Moldova slumped to a stunning 1-0 home defeat by Liechtenstein after a second-half goal by captain Franz Burgmeier.

Liechtenstein, who had not won a competitive match since June 2011 and had not won on their travels in a qualifying fixture in over a decade, rose to four points, leaving Moldova with one.